The Coriander Touch

Be it a steaming hot list of  soup recipes, or a dish of luscious noodles, or a handsome serving of dumplings, or maybe just plain rice; a little bit of coriander just adds that right amount of delight. Mainly used in Indian and Indonesian dishes, coriander or cilantro is used widely as an enhancement to flavor and garnish. Its fresh citrus essence also makes it a good appetizer.

Indian dishes make the most out of this herb. Right from naan breads to chicken korma they are a prominent ingredient in these healthy gourmet recipes. Furthermore one of the many varieties of chutney utilizes the minty leaves as the main component. The street food of India which display a great range of crunchy snacks like alu-muri, bhelpuri, pav bhaji, papri chat and so on, often make it a point to exploit the fragrance of coriander. The leaves make a pretty nice addition to many soup preparations as well. It works wonders with lentil or carrots even.

Just like many spices, coriander acts as a good anti-oxidant. Fried foodstuffs or curries can be preserved for a longer time with a generous helping of coriander. Although this property is mainly possessed by the leaves, but the seeds also have a pretty good anti-oxidizing effect.

Moreover, coriander has been known to display anti- bacterial characteristics as well. What more, even folk medicine has records of this herb being used as a curative for insomnia and anxiety. Well, actually coriander as a medicinal herb as countless instances.

The fresh mint which makes a lot of delicious dishes is also used as an evergreen sauce. Coriander leaves can be made into a paste, mixed with a thickener and refrigerated, and regularly served with fries, bread and any basic meal; a pretty good trick for the busy bees who cannot afford the time to prepare delectable dishes in the working days. Powdered coriander seeds, commonly known in India as dhaniya powder, are a compulsory additive to numerous gravy preparations.

The essence of coriander extends over to dessert preparations as well. It is not only used to garnish curd and other creamy stuff, but it also finds a place in pastries, if you move over to western cuisine. Basically, you go munching snacks or stuffing a heavy laden meal, or slowly licking around that dessert, coriander can invoke the magic everywhere.

For bringing the vegetable stock alive, for sticking to the juicy chicken leg and making it caress the taste buds, for complementing the roasted brinjal and even for appearing to top up the pastries, here goes a salute to cilantro!

Partridges And Cabbage

Partridge is delicious if cooked simply. This wild bird has delicate and tender flesh. Thus, two of the best ingredients to combine with it are soft and subtly sweet cabbages and notoriously pungent juniper berries. This dish can be served as an alluring alternative to roasted chicken at your next dinner party. The native grey varieties are small birds that can be served whole, one for each person. They are full of robust flavor and fantastic aroma, and are ridiculously affordable too. The milder tasting partridge are the red-legged variety. It is a larger bird and perfect for gourmet recipes for two. Partridge is quite easy to prepare and require less cooking time than chicken. 

You can serve partridge on or off the bone. You can use the bones for making stock to cook the cabbage. The wild bird could use the extra fat to help retain and add moisture to its meat, which is leaner than chicken. Thus, this recipe that hales from healthville of the best easy dinner recipes calls for a generous amount of butter. Cream is also added near the end of the recipe to counterbalance the gamey taste and also to make the dish taste absolutely ambrosial. If you pierce the partridge meat with a fork and the fork slides down the flesh all the way to the bone with ease, it’s done properly. However, take extra care not to overcook the partridge as it dries out quickly. Wash the partridge thoroughly with cold water, and pat it dry with a paper towel before cooking. Juniper berries used primarily to flavor wild game have a tart flavor that cuts down on some of the gaminess of wild birds, boar, buffalo, and venison. It is the main ingredient in making gin. Juniper berries surely add a piney flavor and pungent aroma to this exotic dish.

Ingredients

1 medium head cabbage (shredded)

4 tablespoons butter

2 partridges

Sea salt

Pepper (freshly ground)

¼ teaspoon paprika

Juniper berries

1 ¼ cup whipping cream

1. Fill a large pot with water. Add a little salt. Bring to a boil. When it begins to boil toss the cabbage in the water and cook for 10 minutes. Drain.

2. Melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet. Add the partridges and brown them on every side. Add the cabbage to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Add the paprika and half a handful of juniper berries. Cook covered for 20 minutes.

3. Stir in the cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. It is best to serve it warm.

Delicious Meatloaf

There are various ways of making meatloaf straight from chef recipes. How you decide to make it is up to you. However, it is best to be safe than sorry. Working with meatloaf requires you to make something that you will not end up hating for the next twenty years or so. Normally, the making of meatloaf involves mixing ground meat and other ingredients that are different according to how you want it. When doing it, it is good to consider making it healthy by going for low-fat options. Use of leaner meat is more appropriate since it helps prevent loss of moisture.

What you need for a scrumptious meal:

Lean pulverized turkey/beef meat (90% if turkey and 95% if beef). Reducing the percentage in lean turkey is done due to the slightly higher number in calories, fats, and saturated fats it contains. This simple gourmet recipe is for three little serving. Compared to crushed beef, the quality of ground turkey will be thicker. Therefore, addition of veggies to it will help in making it softer.

A binding ingredient gives the serving a signature feels. You can opt for either combining breadcrumbs together with egg whites (which contain less fats compared to a whole egg).

You do not want your meatloaf to come out dense so you will opt for the veggies after all. Onions and pepper are delicious when put in crushed beef. Omission of oil and dairy products will be good because the content of fat must be as low as it can be.

When it comes to seasoning, you could opt for garlic powder, lemon/white pepper or smoked paprika instead of salt. This leaves you licking your fingers. In case you prefer spicy, then opt for ground red pepper.

What to use:

Use either a loaf pan or a lined muffin pan. This depends on how you want the meat loaf to come out. If using a loaf pan, make sure you form it with a sheet of flour, which necessitates the mixture to fall apart. Lining the pan with a parchment paper avoids sticking. It also makes the lifting easier.

This said and done, you could opt for muffins which a best done in the lined muffin pan. The process of lifting in this case is easier and does not involve any mess. However, the muffins are best when it comes to selected occasions. Examples of these are child serving and/or wispy lunches.

That said and done, it is good to note that for you to have the best result of that meatloaf, pressing it when cooking helps in making the mixture compressed!